Premier David Eby has admitted that he was "wrong" on the issue of drug decriminalization.Speaking at an event hosted by the Urban Development Institute in Vancouver on Friday, he said that while the government of British Columbia was certainly to blame, they weren't alone in the initial push for the policy.."I was wrong on drug decriminalization and the effect that it would have," Eby said. "I wasn't alone — but it wasn't the right policy."He went on to explain that the decision to take that route came at a time of rising overdoses and was made with the hopes that offering a "safe supply" of drugs would allow addicts to live long enough to seek treatment and eventually be weaned off illicit substances altogether."What it became," Eby continued, "was a permissive structure that, in the effort to reduce stigma that it was ok to use drugs anywhere, resulted in really unhappy consequences not just in British Columbia but other jurisdictions that attempted this.".He noted that at the beginning, chiefs of police offered their support, but it "very quickly" became apparent that it "wasn't working" and the government reversed course.Eby touted the new involuntary care beds being set up in facilities across the province, saying this would help those who are "unable to ask for help, or unwilling to ask for help but absolutely require it."BC decriminalized drug possession in January 2023. Since then, studies have shown that it resulted in not only more overdoses, but more diversion of the drugs.According to a Ministry of Health presentation obtained by the BC Conservative caucus earlier this year, pharmacists and doctors prescribed 22,418,000 doses of opioids to around 5,000 patients in the province. That's an average of 4,483 per person.Hydromorphone accounted for 19%, while fentanyl patches, oxycodone, dextroamphetamine sulfate, and morphone sulfate came in at 13%, 7%, 2%, and 1%, respectively.A "significant portion" of the drugs in question were "not being consumed by their intended recipients." Instead, "prescribed alternatives are trafficked provincially, nationally and internationally.".Due to a high level of spam content being posted in our comment section below, all comments undergo manual approval by a staff member during regular business hours (Monday - Friday). Your patience is appreciated.
